Clarke 151en, HELP !!!

[myredmini]

I am thinking of buying a Clarke 151en how do i make it run SAFLEY off a 13amp household plug socket, need to know a.s.a.p

Thanks
Danny.

 

[Iain Westland]

what are you welding?

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

a lot of guys here just put a standard 3-pin plug and it and use it.

If you're on full-power, maybe 6mm plates, etc, then it may blow the plug fuse but you just change it.

To do it 'right' you should have a round blue plug and socket wired into a 16A breaker but you can get away without that.

Regards
Peter

 

[Iain Westland]

I used my 160EN for over a year pretty well daily, car body work, on the mains, no problem

iain

 

[mill]

where do we get the 16 amp fuse from and the braker. have seen meny welders use 13 amp plugs an nomal house hold elecrice-----------------

 

[MoreWellie]

where do we get the 16 amp fuse from and the braker. have seen meny welders use 13 amp plugs an nomal house hold elecrice-----------------

The manufacturers state this machine should only be connected through a 16amp socket with it's own circuit breaker and NEVER through a 13amp plug

Since the recent regulation changes this should only be installed by a qualified electrician who has approval to work on your fuse panel

Unless you plan to weld on full power then a lot of people find that plugging into a normal 13 amp point works ok. If you do use full power then you would probably find the fuse blows in the plug. There is no such thing as a 16amp fuse for these plugs as they are not rated to carry more than 13 amps

You also need to consider the state of the wiring to your 13amp socket. If it is old then your socket may be fed from wires that are not capable of handling the current needed by the welder which could cause them to melt and burn before the fuse blew.

 

[ibrooks]

The wiring will be rated at far more than 13 amps. Bear in mind that household electrical systems are designed to have something pulling 13 amps plugged into every single socket and still not cause fires. Even assuming that the wiring is only good to 13 amps - bear in mind that on a ring main you have that in both directions so you should be able to draw 30 amps from a household socket without the wiring getting hot.

Stick a 13 amp plug on it with a 13 amp fuse and it'll run happily at most of the power settings. It MIGHT blow the fuse if you turn it up to full power but bear in mind that Clarke are also going to be working on the safe side when they tell you it needs a 16 amp supply - even at full tilt it probably doesn't actually need that. If it does try to draw 16 amp for more than a second or so then the fuse in the plug will blow.

If you really want to put a 16 amp socket in then a dedicated breaker or fuse will need to be added to your fuseboard and heavier cable run to the new socket. basically it would be the same as the "cooker socket" in most houses.

Iain

 

[Wozzaaah]

The wiring will be rated at far more than 13 amps. Bear in mind that household electrical systems are designed to have something pulling 13 amps plugged into every single socket and still not cause fires.

Hmmmm.......not really!
They're designed to cope with sensible load, nobody ever draws full load from every socket in their house. I believe it's known as 'diversity'.
Work out how many sockets you have in your house then multiply that by 13A, it'll be way more than the service fuse you have for a start.
Then add your cooker and shower supplies, sub-main to the garage/shed etc., starting to get the picture?
Just as a starter, we have 8 sockets just in our lounge so on your theory our cabling on just the downstairs ring should be able to handle 104A!

 

[brightspark]

A RINGMAIN CAN BE RUN 100 SQUARE METERS so thats five rooms an 20 square meters . u can put as many sockets as u like on the ring but that doesnt mean u can use them all at once . as wozza says use diversity when designing system . the max current draw on a ring is 30 amp so a tumble drier and a washing machine with 3kw element in it add the kettle and your there most houses need 2 ring mains down stairs and one up stairs .a cooker circuit would be min 30 amp up to 45 amp on its own supply . the welder wouLd be no more than 16 amp